


Royal Tazu, Human Servants, and First Impressions

by Crazy_Pairing_Person



Series: How to Serve Your Tazu [4]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Assassination Attempt(s), Bodyguard, Crimes & Criminals, Dungeon, F/F, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Gen, Homelessness, M/M, Master & Servant, Minor Injuries, Royalty, Servants, Sparring, Way Walkers AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-25 20:27:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20730275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazy_Pairing_Person/pseuds/Crazy_Pairing_Person
Summary: How Toothless, Stormfly, Hookfang, Bayn, Balinn and Meatlug all met their human servants.





	Royal Tazu, Human Servants, and First Impressions

**Author's Note:**

> I had to change Barf and Belch's names... Toothless and all the other names could be passed off as tazu names but I don't think I could type out Barf or Belch as a name with a straight face. So Barf is Bayn and Belch is Balinn.
> 
> The numbers are to show what age the characters are when they properly meet.
> 
> In the series proper:
> 
> Toothless is 22, Hiccup is 21  
Stormfly is 21, Astrid is 21  
Bayn and Balinn are 20, Ruffnut and Tuffnut are 19  
Hookfang is 19, Snotlout is 18  
Meatlug is 18, Fishlegs is 19

**Toothless (17) and Hiccup (16)**

Toothless decided that he was probably lost. He was seeing a lot of people he didn't recognize, and less guards looking for him, which obviously meant he'd strayed too far from his usual route.

Why had he come this direction again?

Oh, right. He'd smelled something like a bakery and had wanted to go get something sweet before heading home.

As it turned out the bakery smell had come from a pie on a windowsill. The woman in the house, thankfully, recognized his royal status - not many tazu had obsidian-colored scales, so he was easily recognizable - and had cheerfully allowed him a slice.

But that was hardly worth it. Because, as stated before, he was _quite_ lost.

"Which way did I come from, again?" Toothless muttered to himself, looking around the area. It was going to be dark soon, and Stormfly and Meatlug tended to worry when he wasn't home for dinner. The crowd was too dense for him to be able to shift into his full form, too, so he couldn't check from the sky...

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around, and met the eyes of someone who was at least a head shorter than him, and was far too skinny. He had pale skin with freckles. Human.

"Are you lost?" the human asked, voice somewhat scratchy, like he hadn't spoken in a while.

"Y-yes, I am," Toothless said, nodding quickly. "Do you know how to get to the castle?"

The human blinked slowly. "I don't," he said. "But I know where you can go to figure it out."

Toothless was not a very smart individual. He knew that if any one of his siblings were here, they'd tell him to find any way he could to get away.

But he didn't, because this human was very small and frail and once Toothless figured out how to get home he was going to take him along, too, and give him some food.

Toothless followed the human easily, weaving through the crowd to keep up with him. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Hiccup."

"Nice to meet you, Hiccup! I'm Toothless."

"I know. You're very recognizable, your highness."

"So I've been told."

Hiccup's voice was wary and tired, too. Oh, the poor thing. "Where are we going?"

"There's a field in this direction. You can shift and fly up, and see where the castle is."

"I see... Thank you so much!"

Hiccup didn't respond. Toothless decided that that meant the conversation was over, so he silently followed the other male until they came to a large field. It was large enough for Toothless to shift, and that was all he needed. He took off a ring with his family's crest on it and handed it to Hiccup. "Hold this while I shift? I don't want it to break."

"Sure."

Toothless took several steps away from Hiccup, and shifted into his dragon form. Hiccup must have grown up around tazu, at least, because he didn't even blink or gawk at the sight. Toothless was slightly disappointed at this, but he shrugged it off and flapped his wings, lifting himself into the air and searching for the gem-covered dome of his family's castle.

It was quickly found, and then he lowered himself to the ground, and shifted back. He was thankful he'd thought to wear all tazu-hide clothes today. "I found it!" he said cheerfully to Hiccup. Hiccup smiled at him, and handed the ring back.

"So, want to come over for dinner?" Toothless asked.

Ah, _now _Hiccup blinked and stared. "What?"

Toothless hesitated, and said, "Well, you just. Seem really skinny. And you helped me, so I want to repay you."

Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

"Do you already have plans with your... Family or something?" Toothless asked warily.

Here, Hiccup snorted and shook his head. "No... No, my dad and I do not have plans. If we did, I guarantee eating in a castle would trump eating whatever scraps we found in whatever alley we sleep in tonight... But are you sure you want to bring me?"

Toothless blinked dumbly, and took a moment to reply. "Yes, I am. Actually, hey! You can bring your dad, too! Oh, wait, you sleep in alleys?! That's no good! You should work for my family! Then you can have a nice bed and food every day! That's a good plan, right?"

Hiccup stared blankly at Toothless for a moment. "Uh... Sure. Sure it is. What would me and my dad do, though?"

"Uh... Well, you could be my personal servant, if you like. You'd just have to help me with stuff and hang around me all day. That's not bad, right?"

"I guess not..."

"Right, and your dad... We'll find him something! Let's go find him!"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow again, as if fully expecting Toothless to burst out laughing and say that he'd been kidding. But Toothless did no such thing and simply waited for Hiccup to lead him to his father.

Hiccup would soon learn that this was only the tip of the iceberg with Toothless's impulsiveness.

* * *

**Stormfly (17) and Astrid (17)**

Stormfly thought she might have to stop making fun of Toothless for getting lost in the lower district.

She'd only come because she'd heard of a play that would be performed in this area. 'I'll be there and back,' she'd promised herself. 'I won't even stay after intermission.'

As much of a lie as she'd known that to be, she knew that by now she would be lucky to catch the very end of the play. Where was this address?!

She was so busy searching the numbers carved into buildings that she didn't even notice the Rheanic Walker atop one of them, following her movements with a crossbow.

That is, not until someone suddenly pressed against her side, grasping her arm tightly. "There you are!" the human female said, smiling at her. "I've been looking for you everywhere!"

Stormfly blinked dumbly. "I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong-"

"Look up," the woman whispered, eyes darting upwards for emphasis.

Stormfly did so, and saw the man. Cloaked in all black, tracking her movements. And this woman had forcefully placed herself between him and the princess.

"Thank you," she whispered, cheeks burning over the fact that she had completely missed the assassin.

"No problem, where are you trying to get? I'll follow you there so you don't get attacked."

"Oh, uh, do you know where _The Maiden's Virtue _is currently being put on? I mean, assuming the play hasn't already ended..."

The human nodded. "I actually do know." Her expression fell completely flat. "And you're in the wrong area."

"...Pardon?"

"It's being held across town. I highly doubt you're going to make it in time..." The human sighed, and glanced upward, towards the assassin. "Come on. His trigger finger's getting itchy, and if we don't get moving he'll just strike both of us down."

Stormfly went along easily. The human ended up her to a slaga stable, where her family apparently worked. "My name is Astrid," she said, almost in a tone that suggested she didn't expect Stormfly to remember.

She'd be doing Astrid one better, though.

"You're a very good bodyguard," she said, completely seriously. "Perhaps I should look into hiring you."

Astrid let out a soft laugh, clearly thinking that Stormfly was joking. "Hey, as long as I'm not shoveling up slaga crap anymore, I'd take that job."

Stormfly would have given anything to see Astrid's expression the next morning when the royal guard came and told her that she'd been hired as the crown princess's personal servant.

* * *

**Bayn (16) and Ruffnut (15)**

Bayn wondered how many times she'd be able to sneak into the dungeons below the castle with the excuse of 'doing it for research'. Probably not too many more. Oh well.

She giggled as she looked around at all of the thieves, murderers and other miscreants, waving cheerfully to some of the familiar ones. Red followers were kept in an entirely separate area that even Bayn wasn't sure how to locate, so she didn't see any of those.

Soon, she saw some new faces. "What'd _you_ do?" she asked, rushing up to the bars of one of the cells. A set of boy-girl twins, like her and Balinn, except human, stared back at her.

"We stole some old food from behind a bakery," the girl said. "The baker threw away some day-old pastries and breads and stuff, and we don't have the money to go buying food very often, so..."

"But he threw it away," Bayn said, tilting her head. "How come you got arrested?"

"The dumpster is supposedly 'private property'," the boy twin said, using airquotes. "So I guess taking stuff out of it is like stealing from the bakery."

"Huh..." After a moment of silence, Bayn decided to introduce herself. "I'm princess Bayn. What's your names?" She smiled brightly, hoping to seem non-threatening.

"I'm Ruffnut," the girl said. "This is Tuffnut." She pointed at her brother. "What're you doing down here, mingling with us low-class thieves, princess?"

"I dunno. You're more interesting to talk to than the stuffy nobles my dad wants me to hang around?"

Ruffnut and Tuffnut both grinned at her commentary. "Hey, that's fair," Tuffnut said easily. "You're the first not-boring person I've talked to in a while."

"You've talked to me," Ruffnut said.

"Thanks for making my point for me, Ruff."

Bayn hid a laugh behind her clawed hand as Ruffnut punched her brother in the arm.

And so the princess stayed down there the rest of the day, chattering aimlessly to the two. It wasn't long before she grew quite attached to them. They'd only been trying to survive, after all. The poor humans seemed starving!

"I'll be right back," she promised. "I'm going to go do something."

* * *

**Balinn (16) and Tuffnut (15)**

"I'm sorry, you want me to _what_?"

Bayn opened her mouth to repeat herself, but Balinn quickly slapped his hand over it. "Don't. I heard you perfectly fine. But why on earth would I hire a petty thief as my personal servant?" He pulled his hand away, ready to hear whatever inane reply she had ready.

"Because they were just hungry and don't deserve to be in a dungeon?" Bayn said hopefully. When Balinn didn't budge, she pouted and folded her hands under her chin. "Pretty please, Bal-Bal? Daddy won't let any of us have more than one servant! He thinks we'll get lazy!"

"I know, Bayn. But why can't you just take one, then, and not force me to take the other?"

"Because they're twins, Bal-Bal!" Bayn reached out, grasping at Balinn's upper arms. He glared. "We'd be twins with twin servants! Isn't just adorable?!"

Balinn groaned. His twin wanted to put their lives in the hands of convicted criminals because she thought it would be adorable.

But of course, he was never able to say no to her whims - he may have been technically younger, but he definitely doted on her like she was a baby.

"Can I at least meet them first?"

Bayn let out a squeal and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you, Bal-Bal! You'll love them, I promise!"

That was how Balinn let himself be dragged down into the dungeons and to the cell of two human thieves he didn't even know. The pair of them seemed kind enough, though, and he was somewhat inclined to agree with Bayn when she'd said that they were just hungry. They were so skinny that he was surprised they weren't just classified as skeletons.

He talked to them a bit, putting up a show of pretending that he was still hesitant to hire them. The humans didn't seem to mind one way or the other, though. "At least they feed us," Tuffnut joked, holding up the stale bread that had been brought like it was a hard-won trophy.

Balinn was slightly disgusted at how the two humans savored each bite of it. They deserved better, even if they were prisoners, but they were acting like it was the best they could get.

"Fine," he muttered to Bayn. "We can hire them."

"_YES!_" Bayn's shout made the two humans in the cell jump. "I call Ruffnut! That okay with you, Ruffy?"

Balinn sighed and shook his head in vague amusement, while Ruffnut and Tuffnut simply looked at each other in confusion.

* * *

**Hookfang (13) and Snotlout (12)**

"Who's that?"

Hookfang stared at the short human that stood at the side of one of the royal guards. He kind of looked at Hookfang like he wanted to both run away from him _and_ try to beat him up.

Hookfang wasn't _quite _sure how to take that, but he was more than up for a rumble if that was what the human boy wanted.

"He's my son," the guard said to the youngest prince. "His mother is ill and didn't wish to get him sick, so I had to bring him along today."

Hookfang walked closer to the human. The human watched him warily, but relaxed a bit when Hookfang stuck out his hand. "I'm Hookfang," he said, somewhat unnecessarily. The boy probably already knew who he was.

"Nice to meet you, your highness. I'm Snotlout."

Hookfang was relieved when the human took his hand and shook it instead of bowing like people usually did. He grinned. "I like you," he declared immediately, much to the amusement of the guard and the shock and confusion of Snotlout.

"Snotlout asked me to show him the guards' drills today," the guard said. "Would you like to come along as well, your highness?"

"Yes!" Hookfang jumped at the opportunity, eyes lighting up. He _loved_ training with the guards. "Please tell me we're using the swords today!"

"It's wooden swords for you and my son, but yes."

"Awesome! Snotlout, sword day is the best!" While still grasping Snotlout's hand, he began rushing towards the training grounds.

"Ow! Lemme go!"

"No way! You'll just be too slow otherwise!"

Hookfang had always been called impulsive - not as much so as his oldest brother Toothless was, but quite a bit more than any of his other siblings. He had also been called rude - mostly by his etiquette teacher and by Balinn.

So Snotlout spouting those words over and over until they made it to the guards' training grounds didn't phase him in the slightest.

When they did arrive, the guards immediately decided to pair off Snotlout with Hookfang. Snotlout had no experience with the training, and it wouldn't have been fair to put him with one of the guards like Hookfang often requested to be.

They should have taken into account, however, the fact that Hookfang often _got this request met_.

Poor Snotlout never had a chance. Even being the son of a guard, he had never had much experience with real fighting. Hookfang guessed that his father probably just mimicked fighting techniques with him but always went easy on him.

Hookfang did not do that. He actually might have killed Snotlout if he hadn't constantly reminded himself to reign in his strength.

"I'll take care of his cuts and stuff," Hookfang announced once their fight was over and he was declared the winner. "I know how."

No one had a problem with this, as it meant that the training could continue as planned with the actual guards. So Hookfang dragged the dizzy human over to where he knew the first aid supplies were, and began easily patching Snotlout up. "Humans are so fragile," he commented. "I never get this scratched up when I fight the guards."

"Sorry I don't have scales," Snotlout muttered bitterly in response.

"I liked fighting you, though. You're a good opponent," Hookfang said honestly. "You actually fought back instead of letting me win. Everyone always tries to let me win 'cause I'm a prince."

Snotlout shrugged. "I don't like losing. Even to princes. So we gotta have a rematch sometime, okay?"

Hookfang grinned at the offer. "Yeah, well, I don't like losing either," he declared. "So you better practice."

It wasn't until a few years later that Snotlout was officially hired to be Hookfang's personal servant. But until then, Snotlout visited every day with his father, and became a regular sparring partner for the prince.

* * *

**Meatlug (16) and Fishlegs (17)**

"Hello, your highness," the royal Rosin Walker said, smiling easily at the youngest princess as she entered his study. Meatlug smiled shyly over at him, before noticing the other human in the room. "I'd like you to meet my son. Fishlegs. Your parents are talking about making him your personal servant, so I thought it a good idea to bring him along today."

Meatlug brushed her russet brown bangs from her eyes, shifting nervously. "Oh. Okay."

"Nice to meet you, your highness," Fishlegs said, seeming as shy as she did. Well, that was a good thing, at least.

"I'll let the two of you talk. I have a bit of work to do," the Rosin Walker announced, heading over for his desk.

Meatlug felt too awkward now to say that she'd only come to return the book she'd borrowed. Discreetly, she slipped it out of her bag and sat it down on a nearby table, then turned back to Fishlegs.

"What do you like to do?" she asked softly, unsure of what else she could say.

"Um, I like to read. And study. I follow the Way of Feator."

Meatlug's eyes lit up. Being forced to follow Montage meant that she only ever touched on Feator's teachings, so she didn't know much about it. "Really?" she asked, suddenly excited. "What kinds of things do you study?"

"I like to look into past lives and stuff. I can remember some of mine - mostly only really fuzzy stuff, though."

"What kinds of things do you remember?" Meatlug stepped closer to Fishlegs. Fishlegs beamed, also relaxing.

"Oh, well..."

The pair chattered on and on. Occasionally, the Rosin Walker would glance over, seeming pleased that they were getting along, but for the most part Meatlug was entirely focused on Fishlegs and hearing the things he had learned and discovered through his following Feator.

She decided that she'd enjoy having Fishlegs as her servant. He would be wonderful company.


End file.
